


this year's for me and you

by MiaouMiaou



Category: Yogscast "High Rollers" D&D Campaign
Genre: Cam burns down his kitchen, Christmas, Found Family, Modern AU, jiutou saves christmas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-12 00:52:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9048802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiaouMiaou/pseuds/MiaouMiaou
Summary: Jiutou has never been a fan of Christmas. But when Cam sets of the apartment's fire alarm early Christmas morning while baking a Buckland Christmas tradition, she offers to help him out.





	

**Author's Note:**

> SO! This is a very silly idea but I thought it was cute. I started writing this forever ago but deleted like half of it and just finished it in time for Christmas, so here we are. This is set in a modern AU (inspired by iznj's modern hr ideas) where the characters live in an apartment complex together and are all neighbors.
> 
> Happy Holidays! I hope you all have had/will have fantastic holidays! Thanks so much for reading. <3

It had been a long time since Jiutou had celebrated Christmas. Not because she didn’t like the holiday, because she did, but rather because she hadn’t had anyone to celebrate it with for a few years. She certainly hadn’t planned on celebrating it this year either, especially since she really didn’t have the money to do anything special. The holiday hadn’t really felt the same since her parents had died, and even when she lived in the church, it hadn’t held that much significance to her. Maybe it was because the church had celebrated Christmas much different than her parents had. And she hadn’t really thought about it since she moved into this apartment by herself, because she hadn’t had anyone to celebrate it with.

But when Cam, who lived on the floor below her, had hung up a wreath and asked Jiutou what she thought about it, she started to think about it a little more.

“So what do you think? Festive enough?”

“It looks… nice?”

“Awh, Jiutou, you’ve got to put more effort in it! Is it Christmas-y enough or not?”

“I wouldn’t really know.”

“Ah. I get it. You celebrate something else, don’t you?”

“Uh. No. I suppose that I like Christmas, but I just-“

“Jiutou, you don’t have to be ashamed.”

“I’m not!” The girl exclaimed, crossing her arms. “Never mind. It looks fine, Cam. Now if you’d excuse me, I have to put my groceries away.”

“If you don’t have anyone to celebrate with, you could always come down here and celebrate with me! I was going to invite Trell and Elora too. Y’know, since we all live alone but in the same place.” Jiutou stared blankly at her downstairs neighbor and headed up the steps without saying anything else. “It’s just an offer.” Cam shouted after her. “You can just show up if you want! I’m going to do all the cooking, so you don’t have to worry about bringing anything!”

Jiutou only replied by slamming her front door behind her.

 

* * *

 

 

On Christmas eve, Jiutou was awoken rudely by the screech of the building’s fire alarm system. It was blaring loudly, and she could smell the terrible scent of smoke, so it definitely wasn’t a false alarm. She stood blearily, half asleep, and headed down the three flights of stairs and into the parking lot for their apartment building. The rest of her neighbors were gathered as well; Trell, Elora and Cam gathered together, Cam looking especially guilty. Torwyn and her mothers were standing looking at the smoke rise from the building as they stood in the freezing cold. Even Barris and Durmont were there, the two college boys who shared the ground-level apartment below Cam’s. Korak was just making his way down from the third story as well, looking dazed and a bit confused.

              Once Jiutou had noticed that all of her neighbors were accounted for, she allowed herself to relax a bit. At least, even though they were all outside in the freezing cold, everyone was safe. The smoke rising from the building looked suspicious but all together not too terrible. As she watched Korak go over to speak with Payla and Shalana, she opted to go check in on Elora, Cam and Trell.

              In Trell’s arms was his cat, Granamyr, wearing some sort of silly coat and bowtie, and Elora was petting the animal, who looked a little shocked. Cam was still wearing a guilty expression. “Cam.” Jiutou deadpanned, “Was this your fault?”

              “I was just trying to make Christmas bread!” He insisted. “It’s a Buckland family tradition! I helped other Bucklands make it all the time when I was younger. But I suppose I’m not as talented as Mirela was.”

              “So you set the building on fire?”

              “I… may have fallen asleep.”

              “Ugh.” Jiutou sighed and turned away from the man.

              “It’s not Christmas without Christmas bread!” Cam protested, frowning.

              “Well there isn’t any Christmas bread, and we’re all outside, aren’t we, Mr. Buckland?”

              “Well I’ll just have to make some more.”

              “No you won’t.” Elora snapped, and Trell nodded. “You have woken everyone up at an ungodly hour and if you want to have a _nice_ Christmas, then you will not be making another batch.”

              “But it’s for Christmas. I just wanted to have a nice day.”

              “Cam, I understand that.” Elora sympathized, “But maybe you should let someone else do the baking.”

              “Can you cook?”

              “I mean, I’m alright at it-“

              “I can cook.” Jiutou said, rolling her eyes. “I’ll make it for you, Mr. Buckland, if we are allowed back in.”

              “Really?”

              “Sure.”

              “Oh! Thank you!” Cam exclaimed, and moved to go hug Jiutou, but stopped himself before he did. At least he knew when to stop at that point.

              “You really are too kind, you know.” Trell hummed, petting Granamyr. “He could have just learned his lesson.”

              “It’s no fun being alone and sad on a holiday. Besides, I doubt that he’ll be able to go back in his apartment at this point.”

              “Thank you Jiutou.” Elora smiled.

              “Of course, Miss Elora.”

              It only took a few more minutes for the fire department to show up, put out the remaining fire and deem the apartment building safe to return to. “However,” The fire chief said to Cam, “You’ll probably have to be put up in a hotel.” 

              “No, he’s fine.” Jiutou said, shaking her head and waving Cam towards the stairs. “He can stay with me. I’ll keep an eye on him.”

              “Really?” Cam squawked, and Jiutou rolled her eyes. He really was an idiot. She nodded, and dug her keys out of her pocket.

 “Come on then, before we freeze to death out here.” She sighed. “Elora, Trell, we’ll have brunch at my place, alright?”

“Sounds good.” Elora smiled, and Trellimar nodded, petting Granamyr. They all headed back up the stairs to their respective apartments, but Cam tailed after Jiutou, tagging along like a guilty puppy. He seemed a bit put off by the extra set of stairs he had to climb to get to Jiutou’s apartment. She unlocked the door and stepped in, flicking on the lights. There was no way that she was getting back to sleep after this mess.

“If you want to sleep, you can crash on the couch.” Jiutou said, glancing at her clock. It was 4 am, so it wasn’t the absolute worst time to be up. “I’m assuming that you’re pretty tired, if you fell asleep while you were baking.”

              “I started baking before midnight.” Cam sighed. “It really was an accident. I’m sorry for the mess, Jiutou.”

              “You’re awfully apologetic today. Bit out of character for you, Mr. Buckland.”

              “Yeah, whatever.” The man sighed. “It’s just, fire’s not the best, y’know. Lots of people can get hurt. I’m just glad everyone is okay.”

              “No one got hurt, just don’t be so careless.” Jiutou shrugged and turned on the kettle to make tea. “So how do you make this Christmas bread, then?”

              “Wait, you’re really going to make it?”

              “You said it wasn’t Christmas without it.” Jiutou deadpanned, and started searching through her cupboards for basic ingredients. “Tell me the recipe so I can make sure that I have everything. We may have to run to the store.”

              “Right.” Cam said, and then started listing ingredients. Jiutou had most of them, since she cooked on a regular basis, but she was missing a few of the sweeter ingredients, since she didn’t bake sweets that often. “I don’t think we can find figs at the convenience store.” He sighed. “Or honey.”

              “Plenty of stores are open, let’s go.” Jiutou sighed, and pulled on a coat, tossing Cam a hat and a scarf. “We’ll make your ridiculous Christmas bread.” Cam scurried out the door behind her, and the two headed out into the freezing early morning.

 

* * *

 

 

The store was busier than Jiutou had expected, but she figured it probably had something to do with people getting last minute presents and ingredients for Christmas. After all, that was what Cam and Jiutou were there for. She sent Cam off to find the missing ingredients, and then she wandered the store, knowing that she should probably get her friends some gifts, since they were having brunch at her house. She also picked up some other ingredients that she would need for a hot pot, which was her favorite meal from back home. Finding the thinly sliced meats had taken a little while, but the store had them, so she was in luck. She’d have to dig out the pot for it and get everything else ready too, but it would be worth it. It was a family meal, and Christmas was a family ordeal.

The two met back up and paid, and Jiutou handed half of her bags over for Cam to carry, even though he complained. Jiutou was fairly certain that she was stronger than the man, but at the same time, it was funny to make him do all the work. Besides, it was his fault that they were out at 4 AM on Christmas.

When they got back home, Jiutou cranked up her heater against her better judgement, because it was freezing, and she set Cam upon making the dough for his Christmas bread while she went and searched her closet for wrapping paper and her large pot that she would need for lunch. The pot wasn’t too difficult to find; it was only shoved under a suitcase and her box of martial arts things. She pulled it out and kicked a gaudy old bracelet that fell out of the box out of the way. She didn’t find the wrapping paper, but she did find some paper bags and figured that would have to do. She just hoped that the gifts were enough, because Elora, Trell, and yes, even Cam, deserved that much. They had given her incredibly amazing gifts when she had ended up in the hospital earlier that year, even though she hardly knew them at the time. She had been amazed that they had even come to visit her, let alone bring her gifts while she was in hospital, and then even helped cook meals while she was recovering at home.

This was the least that she could do. And it still wasn’t enough, not really. Elora and Trell and Cam, they deserved so much more. She also needed to send something to Falk, who had been there as well, but who had gone out of town for some sort of research or studying or something. But since Jiutou’s accident, Cam, Elora and Trell had been there for her no matter what. She couldn’t really express how much she appreciated it, especially since she didn’t really have anyone else. It was hard enough being 16 and living on her own, but she had no idea how she would have managed it all alone. Thank goodness for all the kind neighbors and lovely people she had met since she had come here.

If she had Cam Buckland standing in her kitchen shortly after he had nearly burned the entire building down, so be it. She owed him that much. They had saved her life, the very least she could do was help make ridiculous traditional Buckland family Christmas bread and brunch for them.

“Jiutou.” Cam called, and Jiutou climbed out of her closet, bringing the pot along with her. “I finished with the dough, can you do the oven?”

“You are a grown man, Cam.”

“I don’t want to set off the fire alarm again. Or burn your house down.”

“Fine.” Jiutou sighed and shoved the pan into the oven, then set about chopping everything for lunch. The bread just had to cook for a little more than an hour, and then she fully planned on taking a short rest before Elora and Trell came over.

She flopped onto the sofa next to Cam, who had already fallen asleep, and she kicked the man in the leg as she did so. He sat up in shock for a moment, mumbling sleepily but then laid back again, falling asleep. Jiutou just sighed and let the man be. She stood back up and fetched her lute, sitting in her bedroom while she practiced quietly, waiting for the bread to be done.

When the bread was done and out of the oven, Jiutou first draped a blanket over Cam, and then she headed to bed.

* * *

 

Jiutou woke to late morning sun filtering through her window, and she sat up in bed, slightly confused for a moment as she got her bearings. It wasn’t until she heard clanging coming from the kitchen that she remembered that Cam was there, and so she got out of bed and pulled on her hoodie before she headed out to find what the noise was.

              Cam was standing in her kitchen with a big grin on his face, and nothing seemed to be too out of place, so Jiutou didn’t really mind. “Good morning, Mr. Buckland.”

              “Oh, c’mon, Jiutou! You can call me Cam. We’re friends!”

              “Yes, fine. Happy Christmas, Cam.”

              “Merry Christmas! You’re amazing, Jiutou, by the way. This is the best Christmas bread I’ve seen for the past few years! It’s perfect.”

              “Good, at least we’ve got that.” She looked over at the clock and sighed, knowing that Elora and Trell would be there soon, and all they had was Cam’s silly Christmas bread.

              “I saw all the stuff you brought out and put the broth in this pot? I thought that was how it went.” Cam shrugged and looked over at the large pot over on the counter. “I _may_ have dropped a piece of it as I moved it over, but it didn’t look like it broke, so I thought it’d be fine. Sorry about that.”

              “Oh.” Jiutou looked over and checked the pot, and everything seemed to be right. “Thank you, now we can have a real meal.”

              Cam flashed a smile and chuckled, and Jiutou set upon getting everything else set up for the meal.        

             

* * *

 

              Both Trellimar and Elora arrived at the same time. When Jiutou answered her door, she was greeted by their smiles and brightly wrapped gifts. “Merry Christmas, Jiutou!” Elora cheered, hugging the girl. Trellimar smiled and nodded politely to her, and Jiutou invited them inside.

              “So, I know you all do Christmas differently than me,” The girl started as she lead them to the dining area table, which was set up for the brunch, “But I like hot pot and it’s a good family meal, so I thought it would be good. I know it’s not a very traditional Christmas meal, but.” She shrugged, and Trellimar chuckled. “What?”

              “It doesn’t matter what we eat.” The man said, setting his parcels down on the couch. “Christmas is different for everyone. I’m glad not to be eating ham, honestly.”

              “The Buckland family doesn’t do anything like a feast from the movies.” Cam added in, “We sing and dance and get drunk and eat Christmas bread and mince pie.” He smiled.

              “And my family changes what we eat every year. We just like to eat food and be together.”

              “That’s kind of what the holiday is all about, after all.” Trellimar hummed, and Jiutou nodded. “Family and getting together.”

              “And sometimes you don’t have a family or you can’t go see them.” Cam continued. “And sometimes you burn down your kitchen. But despite it all you can find someone to spend it with, and that’s what matters. Spending time with people, with friends, and enjoying the day.” He smiled at his friends, and they all looked back and smiled as well.

              A few moments of comfortable silence passed before Jiutou said, “Alright, enough of this sappy nonsense from the lot of you. Let’s eat.” She smiled and joined her friends at the table as they ate together, spending Christmas together for just the first year of many, laughing and sharing stories and reveling in the company of each other.

              Jiutou couldn’t have been happier, and she found herself strangely glad that Cam had managed to burn his kitchen down that night.  

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I can be found over at [chat-miaou.tumblr.com](http://chat-miaou.tumblr.com), as always.


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